Right fielder Jose Tabata went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while third baseman Josh Harrison and first baseman Matt Hague each blasted late longballs in support of four Tribe hurlers, who combined to hold the Clippers to just one run as Indianapolis defeated Columbus 8-1 last night at Huntington Park.

The Tribe offense jumped out to an early lead with three runs over the first two innings and then piled it on late with scoring rallies in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

RF Jose Tabata, on a major league rehab assignment from the Pirates, was the perfect table-setter for the Tribe offense as he reached base in four of his five plate appearances, scored two runs and drove in a run. Tabata got things off to a quick start as he lead off the game with a double came around to score the games first run one batter later on a RBI single by LF John Bowker.

The second inning began exactly as the first did, when 2B Jordy Mercer led off with a two-bagger to set the stage for CF Gorkys Hernandez, who singled him home with a line drive shot to center to extend the Indians’ advantage to 2-0. Hernandez later scored on a Pedro Ciriaco RBI groundout to increase the Tribe’s lead to three.

Columbus plated a single run in the fourth on RF Chad Huffman’s RBI double before Harrison began the late inning fireworks with his fifth homer of the year to lead off the sixth inning.

Not to be outdone, Hague followed Harrison’s hot shot in the sixth with a two-run blast of his own in the seventh, plating Tabata, who led off the inning with a walk and extending the Tribe advantage to 6-1.

Indianapolis put the game away with singles scores in the eighth and ninth.

While the Tribe offense broke through with eight runs on 14 hits, the Indianapolis pitching staff also shined last night as LHP Tony Watson, LHP Aaron Thompson, RHP Chris Leroux and LHP Justin Thomas combined to hold a powerful Columbus lineup to just one run.

Watson began the game with a scoreless first, before in his first appearance in an Indians uniform, Thompson allowed just one run over 3.2 innings to earn the victory. Leroux and Thomas finished off the contest with multiple innings of scoreless relief to lead the Tribe to the 8-1 victory.

Columbus starter Corey Kluber suffered the loss to fall to 6-8 on the season as he allowed six runs on nine hits over seven innings of work.

Indianapolis and Columbus now wrap up their short two-game series on Thursday afternoon at 12:05 p.m. LHP Brian Burres is expected to make the start for the Indians, while the Clippers are scheduled to counter with RHP Jeanmar Gomez